Independent Care Homes: A Growth Market
“With one in nine people in the world aged 60 years or over, projected to increase to one in five by 2050, population ageing is a phenomenon that we can no longer ignore.” - Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund
The independent care home market is now ripe for you to make lucrative impact investments in new-build care homes. The care home market is an essential and growing industry due to the demographics of the U.K and the rising number of Dementia cases. The closure of many care homes in recent years also means that the gap in the supply of care homes has increased in comparison to the increasing demand for decent care homes.
The U.K. has a disproportionately ageing population because people are living longer and also because of the sheer volume of the baby-boom generation. The most recent Census revealed that the percentage of people aged 65+ is now the highest seen in any Census which in figures is 1 in 6 people or 16.4%. The ageing population is also a major global issue; a demographic revolution and what the United Nations has declared “a celebration and a challenge”. On a national scale, the far-reaching effects of this are potentially so catastrophic that reports have been written by independent think-tanks and also commissioned by the U.K. government. Furthermore, recent national statistics predict that occupied places in care homes and hospitals will need to rise by 151%, from 450,000 to 1,300,000 by the year 2051 in order to cope with the demand. There are also numerous indications that the NHS are already struggling with the current set of complex demands of our elderly population, so is there any hope for the baby-boom generation alone to receive a high standard of care? Even since the publication of the Dilnot report in July 2011, it appears that the coalition government has been less than pro-active, burying its head in the sand about the cost of care and therefore, innovation and solutions of any kind are nowhere in sight from the public sector. Why has the U.K.’s government not used information produced in each Census to inform their decision-making?! The well-being of the elderly should be safe-guarded by governments as the UN has recommended.
Predictions revealed in vital documents such as The HAPPI* Report (http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/housing-ageing-population-panel-innovation) on the changing medical needs of the U.K.’s ageing population, covering serious and related subjects such as Dementia which …“is projected to increase 44% among the over-65s by 2025”.
Further evidence reveals that a significant gap exists in the independent care homes market as many have closed in recent years because they are inefficient buildings that are not fit for purpose and therefore hinder efforts of care providers to do their job effectively.
Lind Healthcare aim to exceed our residents' and our investors' expectations by producing sustainable, BREEAM-rated centres of excellence for residential and dementia care for the elderly.
*HOUSING OUR AGEING POPULATION PANEL FOR INNOVATION (HAPPI )
**BREEAM: Building Research Establishments Environmental Assessment Methodology.
For further info, please go to http://www.breeam.org/page.jsp?id=66